DAILY GK 4-5 JAN

 DAILY GK 4-5 JAN

1.     KMRC: INDIA’S FIRST UNDERWATER METRO SERVICES

●      The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) announced that the East-West Metro Corridor project, India’s first underwater metro service, in Kolkata will be completed by December 2023.

●      The 16.6 km corridor will run through the Hooghly river, connecting Howrah and Kolkata Sealdah railway stations including the north-south line of the Kolkata Metro at Esplanade.

 

2.     RBIS 2022 LIST OF D-SIBS

●      The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 2022 list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) based on the data from March 31, 2022.

●       In this, State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank kept the status as D-SIBs, under the same bucketing structure as in the 2021 list of D-SIBs.

●      D-SIBs are interconnected entities, whose failure can impact the whole of the financial system and create instability. They are also known s ‘too-big-to fail’ banks.

●      SBI will be in the 3rd bucket .

●      ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank will be in the 1st  bucket

●      The D-SIBs will be selected by RBI based on the size of the bank as a percentage of GDP(Gross Domestic Product) i.e the banks having a size beyond 2% of GDP.

●      The selected D-SIBs are assessed through the 4 indicators of Size, Interconnectedness, Lack of readily available substitutes or financial institution infrastructure, and Complexity.

 

3.     INDIA’S EXTERNAL DEBT AT $610 BILLION IN Q2 FY23

●      As per the figures from the Ministry of Finance, India’s external debt stood at USD 610.5 billion in Q2 FY23 (July-September 2022) showing a decrease of USD 2.3 billion from Q1 FY23 (April to June 2022).

●      The external debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio stood at 19.2% at the end of Q2FY23 as compared to 19.3% at end of Q1FY23.

●      The United States (US) dollar denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 55.5% at end of Q2FY22, followed by the Indian rupee (30.2%), Special Drawing Rights (SDR) (6.1%), yen (4.9%), and the euro (2.6%).

 

4.     BCCI BEST PLAYERS OF 2022

●      The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the names of the players who were the best performers of  Team India across all 3 formats – One Day Internationals (ODIs), T20 and Test in 2022.

●      Best Performers in Tests Rishabh Pant (Wicket-Keeper Batsman),Jasprit  Bumrah (Bowler)

●      Best Performers in ODIs Shreyas Iyer (Batter), Mohammed Siraj (Bowler)

●      Best Performers in T20Is Suryakumar Yadav (Batter),        Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Bowler)

 

5.     GAGANYAAN: TO BE LAUNCHED BY 2024

●      Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister for Science and Technology, announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to launch India’s 1st Atmamirbhar human flight “Gaganyaan” by the year 2024.

●      There will be two preliminary launches in 2024. The 1st will be unmanned, and in the 2nd launch, the robot will be there as a human replica. On the third launch, humans will be sent into space.

 

6.     SHASHI THAROOR’S BOOK “AMBEDKAR: A LIFE”

●      Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament (MP – the Lok Sabha – Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala), has launched his latest book “Ambedkar: A Life”, a biography of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

●      Shashi Tharoor won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2019 for “An Era of Darkness: The Britsh Empire in India”.

 

7.     108TH INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS

●      Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister(PM) of India, virtually inaugurated and addressed the 108th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC), also known as ISC 2023, organised at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj (RTM) Nagpur University, Nagpur, Maharashtra.

●      The focal theme of the ISC 2023 is “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment”.

●      The ISC Association was founded in 1914 in Kolkata and held a meeting every year during the 1st week of January. It has a membership of more than 30,000 scientists.

 

8.     1ST WOMAN OFFICER TO BE DEPLOYED AT SIACHEN

●      Captain Shiva Chouhan, hailing from Rajasthan, has become the first woman officer of the Indian Army to get operationally deployed at Siachen Glacier, Karakoram range in the Himalayas in ‎Ladakh‎, the world’s highest battlefield after training at Siachen Battle School.

●      She is posted at the “Kumar Post” at an altitude of 15,632 feet where night temperatures are close to -25 degree Celsius.

●      Capt Shiva Chouhan is an Engineer Officer from the Bengal Sappers.

 

9.     INDIA TAKES OVER LEADERSHIP OF ASIAN PACIFIC POSTAL UNION

●      Dr. Vinaya Prakash Singh, former Member (Personnel), Postal Services Board, will take over as Secretary General of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) for a 4-year term, following the successful elections held during the 13th APPU Congress in Bangkok (Thailand)

●      He will succeed Mr. Lin Hongliang of China, the outgoing Secretary General of the APPU, who was appointed in January 2014.

●      This marked the first time an Indian has taken the lead of an international postal organisation.

●      The Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) is an intergovernmental organisation with 32 member countries in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

●      The APPU was established in Manila (Philippines) in 1962 and has been headquartered in Bangkok since 2002.

 

10. WORLD BRAILLE DAY 2023 – JANUARY 4

●      United Nations (UN)’s World Braille Day is annually observed across the globe on January 4 to highlight and raise awareness about the importance of Braille as a means of communication for the partially sighted and blind.

●      World Braille Day commemorates the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, a 19th-century French educator, who invented Braille in 1824.

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DAILY GK 1 -3 JAN

 DAILY GK 1 -3 JAN

1.     PUNJAB & SIND BANK AND  SBI CARD TO LAUNCH CO-BRANDED CREDIT CARD

●      Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB),  has partnered with SBI Card to launch co-brand credit cards for the bank’s customers.

●      This marks the entry of PSB into ‘credit cards’ as a new product segment under the bank’s portfolio.

●      Under the partnership, three card variants have been launched including, PSB SBI Card ELITE, PSB SBI Card PRIME, and PSB Simply SAVE SBI Card.

 

2.     ARVIND WALIA IS INDIAN ARMY NEW ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF

●      Lieutenant (Lt) General (Gen) Arvind Walia, a 1986 batch officer and an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army.

●      He succeeds Lt Gen Harpal Singh who is superannuating on 31st December 2022.

 

3.     INTEREST RATES ON A NUMBER OF SMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES INCREASES

●      The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), a department of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has raised the interest rate on a number of small savings schemes for the fourth quarter (Q4) of the current fiscal year 2022–23 (FY23), which runs from April 1, 2023 – March 31, 2023.

●      The rates on the various instruments have increased by 20 to 110 basis points (bps), and they now range from 4.0 % to 7.6 %.

●      The interest rates on the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Account, and Savings Deposit have remained unchanged.

●      The Shyamala Gopinath Committee provided the formula to calculate the interest rates for the small savings scheme.

 

4.     GOI INTRODUCES NEW INTEGRATED FOOD SECURITY SCHEME FOR 2023

●      The Government of India (GoI) has introduced a new Integrated Food Security Scheme beginning January 1, 2023, to supply free food grains to more than 81.35 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

●      The new integrated scheme will subsume two present food subsidy schemes run by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), MoCA and F&PD. They are:

●      Food Subsidy to Food Corporation of India (FCI) for NFSA

●      Food Subsidy for Decentralized Procurement States, which deals with procuring, allocating, and delivering free food grains to the states under the NFSA

 

5.     CROATIA JOINS SCHENGEN ZONE & SWITCHES TO EURO

●      Croatia, the youngest member of the European Union (EU), adopted the ‘Euro’ currency, and it became a part of Europe’s border-free Schengen zone.

●      Croatia, a Balkan country, is now the 20th member of the Eurozone and the 27th country to join the passport-free Schengen zone.

●      Croatia is a former Yugoslav republic that fought an independence war in the 1990s and joined the EU in 2013.

●      Schengen Area signifies a zone where 27 European countries  including four which are not members of the European Union (EU), abolished their internal borders, for the free and unrestricted movement of people.

●      This largest free-travel zone in the world was first established in 1985 as an intergovernmental effort including five EU nations—France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

●      The European Union (EU) member states that have adopted the “Euro” as their national currency collectively refer to themselves as the “Euro Area” or “Eurozone.”

●      With Croatia, 20 EU Member States and 347 million EU citizens will share the EU’s common currency.

 

6.     CAD WIDENS TO 4.4% OF GDP IN Q2FY23- RBI REPORT

●      According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s 26th issue of of the Financial Stability Report (FSR) on December 29 2022 ,India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) widened to 4.4 per cent of GDP in Q2:2022-23 from 2.2 per cent of GDP in the previous Q2:2022-23 and 1.2 per cent in 2021-22.

●      In absolute terms, CAD was $36.40 billion in Q2FY23 which is highest in more than a decade.

●      India’s foreign exchange reserves on BoP basis recorded a deficit of $30.4 billion compared to a $31.2 billion surplus in the Q2FY22.

●      The Gross Non-Performing Asset (GNPA) ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) fell to a seven-year low of 5% and Net Non-Performing Assets (NNPA) have dropped to ten-year low of 1.3% in September 2022.

 

7.     39TH PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL 

●      Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the veteran left-wing politician, known widely as Lula, was sworn in for the 3rd term as the President of the Republic of Brazil

●      He was sworn in as the 39th president of Brazil by winning the 2022 Brazilian general election against far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro (incumbent President of Brazil (from 2019 to 2022).

●      Geraldo Alckmin was sworn in as Brazil’s Vice President

 

8.     FIDE WORLD RAPID AND BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022

●      Indian Grandmaster (GM) Koneru Humpy, a former world rapid champion, has won a Silver medal in the Women’s World Blitz Championship at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2022 held in Almaty, Kazakhstan

●      Koneru Humpy has won India’s 1st ever Silver medal in the World Blitz Chess Championships defeating Zhongyi Tan of China.

●      Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan won the gold medal.

●      Koneru Humpy is the 2nd Indian to win a medal at World Blitz, after Viswanathan Anand.

●      GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the World Blitz Chess Championship 2022 in the Open Blitz category.

 

9.     59TH NATIONAL SENIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

●      Kolkata-based chess player Koustav Chatterjee (19-year) became India’s 78th Grandmaster (GM) in MPL 59th National Senior Chess.

●      The 59TH MPL Senior National Chess Championship 2022 was held at New Delhi

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DAILY GY 29-31 DEC

 DAILY GY 29-31 DEC

1.     RBI’S REPORT ON TRENDS AND PROGRESS OF BANKING IN INDIA 2021-22

·       According to the Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2021-22 published by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on 27th December 2022, the Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) declined to 5% in September 2022 from 9% in 2017-18.

·       The consolidated balance sheet of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) showed double digit growth in 2021-22, after a gap of seven years, led by credit growth, which accelerated to a ten-year high in the first half of this financial year ending March 2023 (H1:2022-23).

·       In FY22, banks reported 9,102 frauds of Rs 60,389 crore against 7,358 frauds with an amount involved of Rs 1.37 lakh crore in FY21.

 

2.     EUROPEAN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY ORGANIZATION (EMBO) YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD

·       MahimaSwamy, an Indian scientist hailing from Bengaluru, Karnataka, has been chosen to join the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Young Investigator network, recognising her as one of the top talents in biology – Immunology in Europe.

·       MahimaSwamy’s membership is between 2023-2026 and her subject area is Immunology.

 

3.     AMBASSADORS OF CHANGE AWARD

·       Vishal Mittal, an Indian student at the University of Canberra (UC), Australia, is recognised as an Ambassador of Change Award, for his outstanding work as a Student Mentor and contribution to the UC community.

·       Vishal Mittal is one of the 9 Ambassadors of Change, who were recognised for their work in various areas.

 

4.     NEW UN COORDINATOR FOR BLACK SEA GRAIN INITIATIVE

·       Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), appointed Abdullah Abdul SamadDashti, a retired Kuwaiti Vice admiral, of Kuwait as the new UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

·       The Black Sea Grain Initiative was launched in Istanbul, Türkiye on 22nd July 2022 by Ukraine, Türkiye, the Russian Federation and the United Nations to enable the resumption of exports from Ukraine of grain, foodstuffs, and fertiliser, including ammonia, through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor.

 

5.     FIDE WORLD RAPID AND BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

·       Norwegian chess grandmaster(GM) Magnus Carlsen won the gold in World Rapid Championship, defeating German GM Vincent Keymer, at the FIDE(Fédération Internationale des Échecs –  International Chess Federation) World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2022 held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

·       Chinese chess grandmaster Tan Zhongyi  won the gold in World Women’s Rapid Championship defeating DinaraSadaukassova of Kazakhstan

·       India’s Woman International Master Savitha Shri B (15 years old), has won the Bronze in World Women’s Rapid Championship and became the 3rd Indian after Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy  to win a medal at the world rapid championship.

 

6.     MCA EXTENDS VIRTUAL AGMS & EGMS TILL SEPTEMBER 2023

·       The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has allowed companies to hold their Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and Extraordinary General Meetings (EGMs) through video conference (VC) mode till September 30, 2023.

·       This extension is applicable for companies whose financial year ends on December 31, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

·       This benefit was started during the pandemic-hit years.

 

7.     G20 INDIA: IISC TO BE SECRETARAT FOR SCIENCE 20 (S20)

·       The Indian Institutie of Science (IISc) based in Bengaluru, Karnataka is set to be the secretariat of the S20 – Science 20, the science working group of the Group of Twenty (G20).

·       The Science 20 (S20) 2023 will work towards resolving common global-level challenges like poverty.

·       The theme of the S20 2023 is “Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Development”.

 

8.     KERALA’S DHARMADAM BECOMES FIRST COMPLETE LIBRARY CONSTITUENCY IN INDIA

·       Dharmadam, the constitution of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan became first in India to achieve the position of complete library constituency.

·       The constituency has made libraries available with complete librarianisation was made possible with the support of all sections of the people of the constituency.

·       Kerala is the first state to achieve 100 % literacy status in India.

 

9.     IRDAI MAKES KYC MANDATORY FROM JANUARY 1, 2023

·       The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has made Know Your Customer (KYC) norms mandatory for the purchase of all new insurance policies, irrespective of their premiums, starting January 1, 2023.

·       This rule will apply to all types of insurance — life, general and health insurance. 

·       At present, KYC documents are not mandatory for buying non-life or general insurance policies such as health insurance, auto insurance, and travel insurance policies.

·       IRDAIChairperson – DebasishPanda,Headquarters – Hyderabad, Telangana

 

10. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SWORN IN AS ISRAEL’S NEW PRIME MINISTER 

·       Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as Israel’s 25th Prime Minister (PM) for the 6th time, leading the right-wing Likud party, and Israel is set to get its 37th government.

·       Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in following his presentation to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) coalition agreements signed by 6 parties on 28th December 2022.

·       Benjamin Netanyahu succeeds YairLapid, who served briefly as PM (July 2022- December 2022).

·       His coalition of nationalist and religious parties won a parliamentary majority in an election on 1st November 2022.

·       IsraelPresident- Isaac Herzog,Capital- Jerusalem,Currency- Israeli Shekel

 

11. NEW CEO OF FSSAI 

·       Ganji Kamala Vardhana Rao, is appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

·       Prior to Kamala Vardhana Rao, ArunSinghal was the CEO of FSSAI (2020-2022).

·       FSSAIThe FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 on 23rd August 2006.Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi            

 

12. MOBILE APP ‘PRAHARI’ OF BORDER SECURITY FORCE

·       Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched the Mobile App ‘Prahari’ and Manual of Border Security Force (BSF) in New Delhi.

·       The BSF ‘Prahari’ app is a great example of Proactive Governance. Jawans can get personal information and information related to accommodation, Ayushmann-CAPF and leaves on their mobiles.

·       Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has recently started the Vibrant Village programme, through which the Border Security Forces shall make efforts towards increasing tourism in the village, making the village self-sufficient with complete facilities.

 

13. BRAZILIAN FOOTBALLER PELÉ PASSED AWAY 

·       Former Brazilian Footballer and 3 time FIFA(Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup Winner Pelé(real name:  Edson Arantes do Nascimento), passed away at the age of the age of 82 in State of São Paulo, Brazil.

·       He was nicknamed O Rei (The King) and fondly known as “The King of Football”.

·       He holds the record for all time leading scorer of brazil national football team with 77 goals which he scored in 92 appearances.

·       He scored the most number of goals in football’s history. He scored a total of 1,283 goals in 1,366 matches.

·       During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970 and He is the only Men’s football player to have won 3 FIFA World Cup titles.

·       Pelé law is a Brazilian law that required clubs to incorporate as taxable for-profit corporations and to publish balance sheets.

·       It required that players be 20 before signing a professional contract and gave them the right of free agency after two years (instead of after age 32).

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